Redemption Through Sin: Darkness vs Chaos
Rip! Was the sound that exploded as demonic flesh and blood scattered across a red stained colosseum battlefield. On the highest balcony stood the youngest general of Hell, eyes narrowed and arms folded. Two warriors were left in a battle royal, and one had just ripped out the shoulder of the other. The demon raised its claws to finish its opponent, but for the briefest of seconds was lost in the fear in its oppoenents eyes. It soon shook out of the trance and plunged into the throat of its adversary, looking up at the balcony and grinning as it awaited praise from its master. But the young warlord wasn't in the balcony at all, but suddenly right behind the demon. "Mmmmaaassttter!" It hissed, cursing between words. "Hh-have I pppp-pleeeeased yyyoooou?" It said nervously but proudly, its serpentine tongue flickering in and out. "So you didn't notice you're mistake then." muttered Echo rhetorically. "W-wwhatt???!!!" Echo closed his eyes and sighed indifferently. "Your eyes spell out your cowardice, for a moment your sympathy for a former comrad cried out. "S-sso? Innnn ttthhe eeennnd, thhheee mmoootthhher fff******er's stiiiilll dddeeead!!!" Pleaded the underworlder. "Enough." Echo placed his hand on the chest of the creature and it quickly lost all color in its skin, black veins surfacing all over its body and face. It choked feebly before falling over, lost to a corruption beyond the aspects of physical evil. Echo's actions were more personal than he would dare admit, his recent cases of mercy had been causing more trouble than aid, and caused him to lose the favor of Satan, and whether he liked it or not, that would come in handy. But he had to admit, his punishment with Asmodeus had brought valuable experience in willpower and endurance, as well as unlocking some very powerful dormant abilities. He turned and walked away towards Lucifer's palace, giving a command with his fingers to the surviving soldiers to prepare for pain endurance training. When he opened the door, Lilith waited at the steps. "Hello, Echo, heard that Satan wished to speak with you after his month of silence?" asked Lilith. "I had a feeling." He mumbled, focused on something else. "You okay?" asked Lilith. Echo frowned. "I know what he needs me for, and I won't make the same mistake again, or ever." His clear blue eyes were empty as always, but their recently gained compassion had died. "Before you see Satan, and he says it's not urgent, you wish to..." said Lilith, not needing to say what she is implieing. "Why am I surprised." he sighed. "You know most people just read a book or get a pet when they're bored." He couldn't help a slight smirk. "Yeah, but a book can't pleasure you and if you use a pet, then you are nothing but a sicko," laughed Lilith. For a moment Echo wondered if Lilith had ever used an anima-...Nah. "Touche'." He replied, caressing her cheek gently, not using the hand he corrupted the demon with out of sheer caution of habit. "Screw books." He said bluntly. She then grabbed his hand. "So, how do you want it?" "Surprise me, besides, you need to be in the spotlight every once in a while." said Echo, popping his neck. "Well, alright," giggled Lilith. Two Hours Later "Well, that was fun," huffed Lilith, she laid ontop of Echo with sweat dripping from him, and both their sweat wetting the bed. "Mhm, way better than a pet I'm sure." said Echo with a smile, his breath returning. "True, Echo, that is true...well, maybe you should speak with Satan now, even when he says that it is not urgent, he doesn't want to wait forever," said Lilith as she got off and started to put on her clothes. Echo narrowed his eyes and his smile dissappeared, he knew what his mission was. "Probably." He sat up and stretched. Lilith got dressed and tossed Echo his clothes. "Maybe if you live, we could do it again," said Lilith with a smile. "Cross your fingers then." He said, raising an eyebrow as he finished dressing by throwing on his overcoat. Echo followed Lilith down the stairs and stood in front of the pedestal, when all of a sudden... "ECHOOOOOOOO!!" Echo turned around and was hugged by a 10-year old demoness, who nuzzled on him. Echo attempted to shift away, feeling uncomfortable the way she clinched onto him. "Have we met?" He said, eyes widened. Naamah looked at him and cried. "Sis, he doesn't like me!" she cried. "Naamah, if you convert him, then I won't be happy!" yelled Lilith. He wanted to say something, but somehow couldn't. He instead blinked in confusion, oblivious to what their words meant. "But YOU keep on saying how good he is, and I want to ride him too!" yelled Naamah. "No means no, Naamah!" said Lilith sternly. "Lilith thinks I'm good...Pretty impressive out of a few million." He shook his head, an elementary school aged girl wanted to "ride" him. "...Okay." He managed to conjure. "Why don't you ask him...mister Echo, do you wish to ride this little lady?" asked Naamah. "How old are you?!" He asked, shocked yet still with a trace of indifference. "Ten," she replied. "Over twenty billion," said Lilith. "Shut up, ya old hag!" hissed Naamah. "No thank you." He smirked, patting her on the head. "I think I'll just stick to your sis', she's more...my type." said Echo, trying not to make the demoness cry again. Naamah then kicked Echo in the groin and ran away crying. "Ha, way to go!" laughed Lilith. Echo's eyes widened and watered before his legs collapsed from underneath him. Refusing to lose composure he drew his sword while falling, plunging it's tip into the ground and balancing on it in a feeble attempt to keep his seriousness. But his involuntary wimpering made it all in vain. "...Why do I do this." He gasped. Lilith giggled and she opened the way to Satan's door... Satanic Hatred He put the pain in the back of his mind and continued forward, tensing his muscles instinctively. Echo walked to the door and stopped when he felt the terror in him. The door opened a bit, revealing Satan's eye. "Echo...so good to see you...done spilling your seeds in a barren wasteland?" growled Satan. "It's proper to adapt to the customs of a foreign land when staying there, I just do my part." said the black haired general, folding his arms. "Hm, a month of hard punishment and torture has done little to hold your insignificant tongue, I am displeased, I even have thought once or twice to kill you, thinking you are deadweight..." said Satan. "Sometimes pawns are best left untouched, even if just for the sake of numbers." replied Echo. "And I was under the impression that I had already clarified my loyalty." "Your impression...thought wrong," said Satan, "But, you may recieve your trust again, if you do this small favor for me..." "Of course." sighed Echo. "Finish the mission you neglected to finish, the last one I ever gave you, do this, and your trust with me...has been restored," said Satan. Echo gave a brief nod. "Is that all?" he said, ready to begin. "That is all, but Echo...if you fail me again, Akiko will suffer with you," warned Satan. Echo had already turned around, stalking out of the room and focused on the task at hand. Echo saw that Devin was in front of him. "So, when will you be done with serving that giant blowhard?" asked Devin. "As soon as I can kill my compassion." spoke Echo, pausing for a moment. "And you?" "Because Satan is going to do something...really stupid...and I have to make sure I can stop it before that happens," replied Devin, "Or perhaps I have turned pure evil, I don't really know anymore, Echo..." "I suggest that you find out before you're forced into a decision you can't make." said Echo, letting the self-relavence of his words sink in. "Echo, compassion does not weigh or lift us, it is what gives us a reason, just choose who you give the reason too," said Devin, he then walked away, entering a red portal. The young host of chaos sighed and glanced around, wondering what method of finding his target was he to use. Lilith then teleported in front of Echo and kissed him hard. Echo blinked in confusion. "...Okay I'll bite, what exactly was that for?" "Did you forget what we will do after you meet Satan?" asked Lilith. "Oh, how could I forget?...But I need you take me to Alice afterwards as soon as possible." he replied, so set on redemption he had almost forgotten his prior commitments. "Very well," said Lilith. Three Hours Later Echo and Lilith walked down the stairs of Satan's Palace, done with their carnal needs. "Alright, you wish to go to Karakura Town, that's easy, you want me to come with?" asked Lilith. "I suppose, if you don't have any more 'appointments' to take care of." replied Echo, glancing over. "Well, me and Lucifer have an appointment, and I don't think I could walk away from something like that," said Lilith. Echo stopped and turned to her, folding his arms. "He'll be using you until the end of time if he has his way, so why not go on a mission with me while that's still possible?" "No thank you, you obviously never slept with Lucifer, and I know you want to," teased Lilith, "Besides, I love that guy..." He couldn't supress a shiver and cringe when the thought of even being closer than two feet to Lucifer. "Now I won't be able eat for days, ugh." Echo shook his head. "And why exactly? You could spontaneously explode and be gone forever, and he wouldn't care in the least." Lilith opened a portal for Echo. She then walked away. Echo jumped into the portal without hesitation, sooner or later she'd wake up and realize that she only has one real friend. Besides, if she didn't really care, then why would she offer to come in the first place? You are so Old, Father Williams... Alice was walking back to school, when her cell phone rang, she looked at it to see it was PsykoReaper. "Hello?" asked Alice. "Where...are...you?" asked PsykoReaper. "Walking from school," said Alice. "Where is that?" asked PsykoReaper. "You know damn well where it is, Psyko, you walked me there once!" groaned Alice. "...Well...fine, when you get home, dinner will be ready, I am microwaving a metal pot full of soup!" "You can't pu-" before she could finish, PsykoReaper hung up, "Crazy wackjob!" Echo landed gracefully from the portal, turning around to see Alice. He said nothing as his pupils became an evil-filled green and his sclera pitch black. "What do you want?" asked Alice, as she turned into her soul reaper form. Echo breathed deeply as he stormed towards her, drawing his blade, fittingly named Kaosu. Its ancient inscriptions began to radiate green energy as always, whispers of the long dead raising as he made a simple gesture, initiating his newly obtained Hand of Isis spell. Alice runs at Echo, with her blade roaring. Without even a twitch Echo had executed three pin-point strikes on the joints connecting Alice's legs and one of her arms to her torso. "With enchantment each strike severs a quarter of your spiritual energy, a fourth would cause an emergency adrenaline rush of life energy, which would kill you very fast after a series of painful attempts to breathe." Alice fell on the ground, suddenly, she was covered in a red orb, and that orb created a giant spider connected to the orb. It screeched and stabbed Echo in the stomach with it's leg. Echo narrowed his eyes and refrained from letting out a wince, instead running his aura covered sword across his wound and transferring the stolen quarters of spiritual energy into life energy. He vanished without a trail reappearing on the creature's head. He took a deep stance and plunged his sword into te creature until it's handle and his hand were enveloped near completely. He then ripped upwards with all his might, creating a fairly large gash on it's back before diving inside the creature, sword first. The spider screeched and a torrent of venom exploded from the gash, pushing Echo out and sending him flying. Echo landed ackwardly but rolled into a a crouch, covered in innards. His horrific eyes glowed brightly as he pointed his index and middle fingers towards the creature's head, sending a wisp-like trail of corruptive smoke at its eyes. It blinded the creature long enough for Echo to charge and leap under it's thorax, piercing the scarlet orb and grabbing Alice as he blasted through te other side, this time landing a bit more elegantly. Alice woke up a little bit later, but had a blanket to cover her. She looked to see Echo. "What are they going to do to me?" asked Alice. Echo's eyes were filled with sorrow but his face showed no care. "I cannot even speak of the wretchedness that is planned for you, so please don't remind me of what I am helping to accomplish." "You tell me what, or I'll kill myself right here," said Alice, gripping her zanpakuto, "Whatever it is, death would hastily want me away, I bet..." He couldn't help but let a smirk slip out. "Alright, I'd hate to see someone so optimistic about life go to waste." He then frowned. "Satan plans on having offspring with you to create a being with the inheritance of two of the great deities." "Why would you wish that of me?" asked Alice. "I don't." He remarked simply. "Then why are you doing this!!!" screamed Alice. He whirled and faced her, the flames of pure agony and rage erupting almost literally from his eyes. "Because of people like you who inspire sympathy in a heart hat doesn't seek it! I don't want to show mercy, let my guard down, or even love. I want power, glory, and respect!" He lied completely. "Doing this will silence any pathetic emotion I have left!" He roared. "Why would you want that?" asked Alice. "You have no idea what it's like to be robbed of a chilhood, having the few things you care about ripped away, and forced to fight to keep any pieces of yourself you have left. I won't let it ever happen again." He said, resuming his unnatural calmness. Alice looked down on the ground. "You weren't raped..." For a moment Echo was speechless, but he swallowed his contempt and spoke. "I am sorry." He said, not sure what he was going to do from there. "No one deserves that kind of pain." "Are you still going to take me, to relive those events with someone else?" asked Alice. "I'm not about to fail this mission out of pity, why should I even believe you or care?" He retaliated, a cold sincerity in his voice. "Hm, I bet you would want to join in, if you were really cold hearted!" hissed Alice. Echo rolled his eyes lazily. "Don't flatter yourself, rape is disgusting, and what makes you so special?" "Because, like a few others, I survived..." said Alice. "Life is pain filled, whether you accept it or not. My solution is detachment, I suggest you find yours quickly." He responded. "You don't understand, he said no one survived, except one other," said Alice. "Slow down...What are you talking about?" interrupted Echo, interested. "You should know the bastard, your master is his master, calling himself a devil," said Alice, two-miles away. "I see." Echo murmered. "But my path has been laid out, this is my new home, and I will do what it takes to keep it. I have no other purpose." "Alice!" yelled a voice, she looked to see PsykoReaper, "I brunt down the house and you have not shown!" "Can you help me, this man is trying to get me raped!" yelled Alice. PsykoReaper then hit Echo over the head with a roll of newspaper. "If your mother could see you know, Kaosu!" Echo rubbed his head in confusion. "...Yeah." he replied. "Oh, poor Echo, died at birth, replaced by a beast of chaos..." sighed PsykoReaper. "Only a soul." he commented. "Well, how about you leave my ward alone or I will have to drive you more insane than you already are," sighed PsykoReaper, turning his head. Placing his hands in his pockets Echo causually spoke. "I will not return empty handed." "And what would Akiko say of this, no doubt she would have...second thoughts for letting a giant dragon rape a woman who had experiance to a terrible thing..." replied PsykoReaper. "She has nothing to do with this." Echo narrowed his eyes. "Besides, if I were to even consider betraying Satan, he would chase me down for all of eternity, and though he cannot harm me directly, he can harm everyone around me." "And where will you fit in this whole plan of things?" asked PsykoReaper. Giving a false smirk, Echo rosponded with an eerie calmness. "That is the question." "Aaaaaaand what says I won't stop you from taking my ward, Kaosu?" asked PsykoReaper. "Once again, angering Satan wouldn't be the best move right now, so what else?" asked Echo. "I caaaaaan protect you, with the help of my friend Steve," replied PsykoReaper. Echo gave a quick and amused roll of his eyes. "Oh yes, the great and powerful Steve." "Why do you doubt Steve?" asked PsykoReaper. "Until I see this power myself there is nothing to put faith in." he replied with simplicity. You already are, everything, everything is the all-powerful Steve, Steve is the trees, the birds, your socks!" "...Right." he gave a glance at Alice, as if to ask if this crazed figure knew what he was talking about. "Just because you don't believe in him, doesn't mean that he doesn't exist," told PsykoReaper. "If he did exist I would believe in him." countered the teenager. "Oni are ya deaf?" yelled PsykoReaper. "Suppose I consider this, how would he intervene?" asked Echo, ignoring the comment. "I don't knoooooooow, somehow, he works in mysterious ways, they say..." said PsykoReaper, he then held out his hand and a portal opened up. "Ps...Psyko?" stuttered Alice. Echo raised an eyebrow at the reaper's movements. "If you are so adamant about this, why not take her?" said PsykoReaper, nonchalantly. "What!?" screamed Alice. That was all Echo needed to hear. "Fine." he replied as he held his hand out to Alice, not wanting a struggle. Alice then turned into her soul reaper form, returning her clothes, and ran away. Echo sighed deeply, it had been a long day and he was ready to relax in his favorite palace of supreme evil, and once again sympathy was trying to slow him down. He vanished at speeds that would be uncontainable, reappearing in front of her. "Listen, I've spent half the day arguing with a giant hemroid and the other half getting drilled by my best friend...the goddess of whores. So I am not wasting any more time playing tag with Ozzy Ozbourne's seed." He elbowed her swiftly on the head, knocking her unconscious to fall on his shoulder. "You do what you wish, but I still wonder if Akiko will like you if you let a woman get raped by a dragon, and don't expect me to keep this info quiet for nothin'!" said PsykoReaper. "And you think she'll believe a random spirit over me? Besides, she doesn't even know about my work." he responded coolly. "I ain't no spirit, and I can replay my memories in TV sets," replied PsykoReaper, "But are you proud of yourself, sending a woman to be raped by Satan, and possibly die bearing a child of dark magnitude?" "By doing this I am preserving my pride, and unless you find a better solution, it is going to happen." muttered the young man. "Alright, there is the door...rapist," said PsykoReaper, muttering at the last part. Echo stormed towards the portal, stopping right before entering, not turning around. "And if I were to spare her?" "That would be up to you," replied PsykoReaper. "I prefer to always be two steps ahead, but the first step isn't always definite." said Echo, the vagueness of his sentence not disguising the trail of mystery in his voice. Echo looked to see PsykoReaper a few feet away. "Are you still here?" "I suppose if you're speaking to me then I must be." retorted the demonic lad. PsykoReaper turned around. "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! GODAMMIT!!!" Echo smirked and turned around, walking into a portal he wasn't aware he could create. Stephen!! Echo found himself floating in a blue space, with no stars and a ring of planets in a circle and a glowing white sun in the middle to the distance. Echo's nose twitched as he held Alice, as she had the disgusting reek of arachnic fetal juices all over her. Unsure of what to do at this point he just waited. A glowing orb then raced to him and accidentally hit him, it dragged him and Alice in a few miles, then stopped, a glowing tentacle pushed him back a bit. "So sorry, I keep on hitting things when I am on this form..." "Hello." replied Echo, eyeing the strange lifeform. "I see Psyko decided to send you here, don't know why, and corrupting me won't work, better people tried," said the orb. "Touche'." remarked the teen. "I assume you are who I perceive you to be." "Just don't grovel, the only thing I cannot stand is groveling, and don't apologize, it's always 'Forgive me lord' and 'I'm not worthy', just like those miserable psalms, they're soooo depressing!" groaned Steve. Echo gave his eyes a slight roll. "Whatever, I assume you understand my position in all of this?" "Doi," replied Steve. "...Sure." said Echo, hesitating in confusion. "Listen, do you realy want to put this girl to the flame, half-demon or not?" "I have no argument with her, she is merely the subject of an order." "An order by a false god, and you are Kaosu, chaos incarnate, you are gonna take orders from a fake god?" "Alright, I realize that...And I also hear you are willing to aid me in repelling Satan's forces from my...acquintances. But there is something I must ask, about the current Demon of Lust...Is there any hope at all for her? I swear I've seen traces of a soul surface, but it's as if she notices it too and distances herself from me." "No...I'm afraid there is not, she only views you as a friend, her heart belongs to my brother, sadly, and there is nothing you can do to change that, not even me..." "Well if not me...I just think she needs to find a place where she isn't just a possession, and definately not his." he scowled when saying the last part. "Though I am pleased to hear that your power is limited, very pleased." "The only limit is that I cannot control people, it is not a god's place to force worship, one must choose, to do what they wish, they only need a path to follow...preferably there own..." "Yet here you are, attempting to tell me what to do, and just because she doesn't care about me, doesn't mean it has to be the other way around. Some day, tomorrow or a hundred years from now, she'll wake up and realize that there's at least one person out there who would shed a tear if she was gone." said Echo, uncomfortably shifting Alice to his other shoulder. "But anyways...if I were to comply to your demands, what would be the next step?" "I am not telling you what to do, I am only telling you what you should do...and about that last question..." He was silent for a while. He then said..."Live"... Live Echo then saw himself in the steps of Satan's Palace in a blink of an eye, with no special effects, just there, like that, his feet firmly in the ground, with no collision, as if it were already there... Echo glanced around him, not noticing anyone in the room. The palace seemed eerily silent, and guilt and anxiety began to beat alongside his heart as he held Alice in the dark palace. Then, from the stairs, a man in a white mask walked down from the stairs and walked to Echo. "I see you have brought the girl..." "Indeed." muttered Echo. "But distance yourself, this is my prisoner." "Quite, Satan wishes to see her now, and I am to bring you and Alice to him..." Echo turned towards the other corridor. "Actually I need to make a quick detour, Satan can wait." "Why, so you can f*ck a chick that deosn't even care if you existed?" hissed Gulrazz, "Satan wants to see you NOW!" "If he wants the girl he'll wait." was Echo's only reply before walking the other way, an eerie presensce in the air around him. Lilith then appeared in a whiff of smoke. "Gulrazz is right, he wants to see her now, he's been waiting for her for days, due to you being gone for like, two months..." Echo stopped and turned his head lightly. "I honestly don't care how patient he is, I will deliver my prisoner when I see fit." Lilith then released her sowrd. "Now." "I don't think so." replied the indifferent teen. "Perhaps accompanying me earlier would've been wise after all." "The god of Hell doesn't just want her, he wants you," hissed Gulrazz,"He wishes to talk to you about your talk with the Angel King..." "And we are suppose to bring you in, as consorting with the King of Nirvana is treason..." said Lilith. "Here's how things are going down today." sighed the now fugitive Echo. "I am going to attend to my personal affairs, and if my mood is right your master just might get what he wants...But only if he's good." said Echo dryly, mocking their lord. "I am never good..." said Satan from behind him. Gulrazz now next to Lilith, walking to her side. "Hello my friend." responded Echo, noticing Alice's heartbeat rising. "Pleased to see you've outran your wooden cage." "Face me..." Echo turned around with an annoyed expression, not flinching after already witnessing a part of the Angel King's glory. "What did my brother tell you?" "He questioned my motives for following an inferior being, apparently loyalty isn't a sufficient cause anymore...And of course I had a few questions, mostly about someone else." he said blandly, with a sigh of annoyance at the last sentence. "I will see if you are lying later, but first, the girl..." "Actually I have already committed myself to a short retirement to my quarters before finalizing this action, ask either of these two...That is if they can refrain from scraping the crust off of your genitiles with their teeth long enough to nod." "Be careful what you say, Echo, continiue this arrogant behavior, and Akiko will feel true pleasure with Lucifer...she might leave you with him..." Echo couldn't refrain a smirk. "If anything he would leave you for her, she's quite the tiger." he mused, but quickly his face's expression dissolved into emptiness once more. "Yet you seem to forget that to date I have not onced wronged you in favor of the Angel King." "Have you forgotten my blade?" asked Satan, he then materialized the blade in his hand, "One touch, and she will be mine, and I can be very persuasive, and she will be one of my mindless sex slaves, and I will enjoy going in and out of her, over and over again...not that I need the blade to have my way with her, I can be forceful, and she is not strong enough to challenge a god...especcially in my true form..." "I don't think you would do that, imagine me joining the Angel King, what we accomplish." Echo said coldly, enjoying every word. "But no, I think someone as experienced as yourself would much rather conquer the world with a loyal servant. Personally I would, and all you have to do is give me a few minutes to prepare." "Very well, but remember, more of that rebellious nature, and if you disobey me even more, and everyone you know, will suffer, especcially Akiko...I will personally see to it..." Echo tipped his head respectfully, whether he meant or not, and began to walk off to his quarters. Terror Alice woke up in a bed, she looked around to see where she was. Out from a secret passage in the room came Echo, carrying several scrolls. "Welcome to Hell Alice, not much time to act so I hope your legs are good to go." his face was calm yet urgent. She got up quickly and slashed at Echo's chest with her zanpakuto. "Let me out of here!" Echo sidestepped the lethal slash, rolling his eyes before replying. "We're about to, that's I inquired about your condition...But, unless you want to play special games with that oversized anal rash, you'll have to trust me every step of the way. I need to find a certain agent in Satan's ranks who can help us get out of here." "You...are helping me...why?" asked Alice. "I don't want to see you or the world burn, who would I have to command then?" he smirked at the last part. "But what of the woman you loved?" asked Alice, "Won't she be punished?" "Your hooded friend promised she would be safe. If he cares about the precious universe, he wouldn't deceive me." reasoned the anxious Echo. "He sometimes makes promises he can't keep, he will sometimes be too busy doing crazy things, but get me out of here and you can talk to the freak yourself!" "Indeed." Echo nodded. "Let's go." he motioned. When they opened the door, Lucifer was in front of it. "Delivering the bitch to me?" hissed Lucifer. Without hesitation Echo sliced off Lucifer's head, roundhouse kicking him through a wall. He grabbed Alice's hand. "Hurry." the look in his eyes was serious, but his expression was a familiar apathetic one. Lilith then teleported right in front of Echo and sliced his throat with her sword. Instantly his pulse stopped and he froze for a moment, letting his three sacred seals appear around him. Such a mortal blow caused the first to release, and as the wound was healed with energy slowly Echo drew his blade, it now noticeably missing several inscriptions. "I will indeed miss you Lilith, pity our last encounter will be with swords." he sighed, actually sincere. He sliced in a crescent motion, sending a wave of corrupted energy to smolder Lilith's head and pin her to the wall, intent for suffocation. Giving her one final moment of eye contact as she struggled he forced himself to look away and let burning flesh be burning flesh. "Come, Alice." he demanded, unable to bear the scene any longer. Flesh, Blood, and Bone They ran through the hallways, finding a pathway blocked by Gulrazz. Alice then hid behind Echo, afraid fo the beast. "Why disobey the true masters of the Omniverse?" asked Gulrazz. "If such were true, what is the point in acquiring this girl anyways?" retorted Echo, glancing behind him at Alice, drawing his blade once more defensively and noticing his first seal was still released. "To keep our title, and don't try to corrupt me, my blood cells can destroy any corruption, be it biological or magical in nature!" growled Gulrazz. "A simple minion cannot stop me." muttered Echo dryly. He threw his blade swiftly as if it were a throwing knife, allowing it to plunge into the ceiling. A grid-like pattern of swelling corruptive energy began to crack up the ceiling. As the skin around Echo's dark eyes bulged with veins, he guided the fissures above Gulrazz's body. Making a sharp downward gesture with his hand, a large portion of the ceiling crashed down upon him, crushing together as Echo clenched his fist. Breathing heavily once, Echo turned to Alice. "Alright, on we go." Gulrazz lifted the rubble off of himself, as he instantly healed himself of the damage and faced them both. "Pity." muttered a disappointed Echo, retrieving his sword and gesturing it towards the corrupted rubble, causing it to compact and bind the demon in its midst. Echo approached slwoly, slicing twice diagonally, attempting to bisect the creature twice in the shape of an "X". Gulrazz deflected the rocks and moved out of the way of the attack, as his senses slow down his perception of time to move quickly. He then stabbed Echo in the chest with a bone blade from his upper wrist. Echo's teeth gnashed as he sidestepped enough to avoid puncterering any organs, reflexively swiping with adrenaline enhanced force to cleave his opponent's body in half, using enough momentum to send his foe's torso flying through a wall. He clenched his chest, letting it heal slowly, but blinked several times to regain composure, as rejuvenation wasn't his field. "Kill...Kurominori..." Gulrazz then released his zanpakuto and reconnected with his lower half, he then puked acid in Echo's face. Echo immediately sliced upwards, corrupting and disentigrating the acid. "I suppose..." he muttered as he grabbed Gulrazz's throat and lifted him up with surprising strength. "That your techniques must require quite the bit of energy." Narrowing his eyes, Echo squeezed his enemy's neck in his grasp, the veins in his arm bulging as his own energy flowed through him. His eyes suddenly intensified in color, dark spirits of an ancient time circling his pupil. His adversary's body began to twist and turn as it shrivelled, being drained of energy. Gulrazz then smiled as he was absorbing and purifying Echo's energy through his skin pores. "If humans were more like me, then they would survive better!" Echo smirked slightly as his energy was being drained. "It takes quite a bit of pain to draw out the release of my second seal, but pay close attention, rarely do I make use of its power." Suddenly the remaining seals appeared, the second vanishing and leaving only three inscriptions remaining on his blade. Pulses of energy vibrated through the air, and immediately the entire realm went black. Screams of terror mixed with whispers radiated throughout the atmosphere, and with a sudden flare light came back to hell. But now, the entire realm was covered in an eerie green haze, and everything physical, including the walls of the palace, began to ripple like pools of water. Echo himself had waves of aura flooding from his eyes, their pupils and iris' unseeable as the raw power surged his body. Inhaling calmly, he closed his eyes, power still leaking like wildfire from their lids. He immediately exhaled deeply in unison with re-opening his eyes, expelling a flood of spirits in front of his body. Extending his palm with fingers curled caused the spirits to spiral into a sphere, firing as soon as he uncurled his fingers. With just enough time to experience terror the wave connected, obliteraing his opponent's body and causing the poltergeists to divide and devour every piece of microscopic cell tissue remaining, evaporating into the unholy atmosphere following after. Echo's body was experiencing pure adrenaline as his muscles portruded extensively, and veins were beginning to circle his eyes. "Alice, are you alright?" Before she could answer, she was slammed to the ground by Satan. "YOU FOOL, YOU DO NOT KNOW MY POWER, AND I WILL BREAK YOUR PRECIOUS AKIKO OVER AND OVER AGAIN AS YOU WATCH, AFTER I AM DONE WITH HER, AKIKO WILL FEEL MORE PAIN THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE!!!" Satan then held out his hand and ressurected Gulrazz out of nothing. "I still need you, rat, BEGONE!" Gulrazz nodded and ran away from the terror about to come. Satan's Rage of a Thousand Hells "You coward, attempting to use a simple girl to threat your way out of a battle. Before I simply denied your will for business purposes, but now...now it's personal." Outstretching his arms, Echo drew in spirits and helpless demons that succumbed to the might of his energy, forging armor covered in their flesh and eyes. As confident as he appeared, inwardly he spoke to himself. "Steve, you'd better not freaking go back on your word." Satan roared and released a flame of shadow energy which scorched anything in it's path. Echo raised his arms quickly, causing the palace floor to fissure and waves of corrupted flames and sub soil to cancel out the flames. Immediately he jumped forwards, meeting the energy with his foot and driving it into Satan with all his might, flipping backwards quickly. Satan did not budge at all, his strength was too mighty for such a weak attack. "Do not mock me with a weak attack, try harder, much harder! And about calling me a coward, that is impossible, I cannot feel fear, I am mearly doing what the wolf does, he attacks the women and children first for two reasons: one is to get a quicker meal, and to break the defending male so that the wolf will be able to kill him quicker, NOW TRY HARDER!" "I suppose I could." muttered Echo questioningly, thinking deeply about his next decision. "Your brother said I couldn't corrupt his energy, but I still tried. He was correct, the energies were at a stalemate. But...stealing a sample wasn't difficult, just painful." Closing his eyes, Echo concentrated, withdrawing the energy he locked down in the atmosphere of the higher plain, hoping Steve would lend him aid in controlling what he was about to unleash. Opening his eyes revealled they were now completely white, flooding an expanding beam of unkept holy light straight into Satan. It was obvious how painful it was to exert the force, as his body had to constantly duel against it himself, but he could've sworn things were going too well for him to have contained it by himself. Satan roared in pain as painful burns appeared on his body, he then used his wings to protect himself. He then created a wave of evil energy at Echo, matching good with evil. Lilith then appeared at the front doors, waiting for Echo to appear. Fighting not to lose footing Echo braced himself, inhaling with all his might and then breathing the same substance to add to the power of his Steve-ified vision. Satan did not lose his footing as well, he released more of the power of evil to overpower Echo's. "Alright, Steve..." Echo thought impatiently, clenching his fists before thrusting his arms forwards as well. A beam of holy light came out and overpowered the darkness, it pushed Satan away so fast and hard that he crashed through the satanium walls in 2 seconds. Then, all of the holy light was taken from Echo's body. "I suggest you get out of here!" Echo didn't hesitate. "Come." he said to Alice, snatching her hand and dashing through the halls until he bursted through the front doors. Why? Lilith looked down the bridge of the Palace of Satan, she heard Echo come through the front doors, she then sighed, not facing him. "Why, Echo, why did you do it?" Echo was a bit surprised to see her again, hoping he would be able to bury the last image he saw of her, and all of his complex feelings. Speechless a moment, he stopped in his tracks. "I have no purpose here, I cannot follow someone that I do not respect, and certainly not his cause. The only reason I even stayed this long was because of my misplaced faith in you. But to see my only friend be subject to my foe at her own will was far too much." he added. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure Alice wasn't there he spoke again. "If he has his way with the girl he won't need any of us, and I am not experienced enough myself to stop such a force at the moment." "You betrayed us, you betrayed the greatest militaristic force in the omniverse, and you betrayed me, your best friend, my trust, and I ask you, is she that important?" "If he gets her, I won't be able to ever usurp him at my level. Surely I'll get more power, but if he gets Alice I won't live to know." Echo argued. "Besides, if you would've actually been a friend and accompanied me on my mission, you know this wouldn't have happened." "I thought you were stronger than this, why was it so important?" "Only my purest form of Kaosu can defeat him, but I cannot control it. I need more time, a separate source. If I can increase my power, I can finally have what I have worked for: a throne, universe, and maybe then you'll even throw a glance my way." stated Echo ambitiously. "But for now...this must be prevented, the girl must be saved." Lilith then faced him, she had tears in her eyes. "Then what are you waiting for?" "Kill me..." His heart wrenched upon seeing her expression, as it was the first time he had ever seen her show any sort of real emotion towards him. Echo walked towards her slowly. "I couldn't kill you on that first day...do you honestly think I could now?" he kept a steady, agonizing pace. "As I see the sorrow I've caused on such a perfect face, eyes I have always longed to belong to, always knowing it was hopeless." he stopped a foot away from her. "No, I'll never be capable of that. You kill me, rid me of this burden." Echo stared at her with his eyes burning green, waiting for her reaction so that he could breathe again, if not for the last time. "I can't kill you, Kaosu would not let me, you know that..." "If you want to kill me, I will fight my inner spirit. But that's only if that's what you want, and you're not doing this for him." he pleaded. "Echo, you betrayed us, letting you live...would be the finest revenge I could ever concoct," she said coldly. She then turned around and started to walk away. "Lilith...blind faith is a weakness, you follow him without anything to gain, and that's something I myself cannot do. Following those orders would do nothing but seal both of our fates...and ruin all my dear plans." his voice gradually raised. "Fool, death and sex is what I crave, and that's all I crave, and you sealed my friend Akiko's fate as well, think of that, Satan will not rest until she is dead or worse, in Hell..." "I have placed her fate in capable hands, Satan can do nothing." retaliated Echo immediately. "I suppose this it, until I return for my vengeance...Alice." he called. Suddenly, Satna crashes down behind both of them, Lilith disappears from sight. "FOOL! No one is safe from me, not even the holiest of God's children, all souls are mine to claim!" Echo turned around, not close enough to Alice to grab her. "Come on!" he demanded, reaching out with his hand.